Six months
by shells210
Summary: Ka'liyah, ex-hero and former student at the conservatory of sorcery, has found herself in an odd situation. Thanks to a deal with her mother Leah must stay above the waves. Working for a man trying to 'cure' mutants and living in an apartment with people who fear them Leah is anything but at home. Things get worse when the brotherhood wants her sister to join and take Leah as bait.


**Afternoon. So I really need to stop starting new stories, but I can't seem to. I was watching x-men the other day when I was writing for 'feather, tourists, and the colors of the world' and this thought came up during the middle of it. So here you are, a brand new OC, new cross over, new story.**

Happily he handed over the key, placing it in the petite hand of the young woman before him. The girl, Leah Lemaris, smiled at him up at him cheerfully, taking the piece of metal and tucking it in her pocket. Derik Sams smiled back carefully, in need of a tenant desperately but not sure how this one would fair. He had other tenants, several, but he was still paying off the complex and the water heater had blown last week, leaving him with two choices; raise the rent and loosing tenants, or finding new residents for his apartments.

Leah had come to rent two days earlier, new to the city and looking for a good place to stay. She had taken the open room on the fourth floor, and now today a truck packed with boxes was parked in front of the building and the young brunette was moving in with the help of two dark haired young men. Leah smiled and thanked Derik quickly before returning to the two boys, picking up two boxes and leading the young men, laden down with their own burdens, into the building ahead of the owner.

Ka'Liyah sighed, pushing a hand through her dark hair and observing the towers of unpacked boxed in her apartment. Stacked high above her head in some places, they were threatening to topple over atop her head if she bumped against them.

_Well, this would be fun to unpack._

Conner and Garth had already left, the Kryptonian to spend the weekend with the Kent's and the other Atlantean back to the Conservatory to babysit the young prince Arthur, leaving the youngest of the Lemaris siblings to get her self settled in.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," she mumbled, gripping closest box and tugging the flaps open, observing the too small room and the too cramped building in the too crowded city filled with _too much._

Leah dropped the box in the kitchen, unpacking silver wear and dishes into cabinets and drawer, tugging open the beaten up but well build doors and organizing everything quickly. It would stay organized, probably the only room that would really.

Next was the living room, to which the two somewhat human boys had dragged a futon and bookshelf to. The shelf was soon filled with books, very few of which were written in English, or any other surface language, old tomes and new novels made of water proofed pages and spelled bindings that would hold forever if they lasted in the right hands.

For over two hours Leah steadily filled the old apartment with her belongings, a bed and nightstand, clothes, toiletries, and a few odds and ends she had picked up from M'gann and Artemis over the years. It was nearly six at night when a loud knock sounded on the door, sharp rapts bringing the Brunette to attention and drawing her to the faded white wood of the door, the same color as the rest of the building, aside from the brown carpets and crimson painted stair guards.

"Coming!" she called, slipping across the room easily and pulling the door open, surprise flitting across her face and touching down inside her chest when she caught sight of the people outside, four people all standing together in various forms of wear and various stages of life.

The oldest of a group, a woman of at least 70, stepped forwards, faded blue shawl wrapped around her shoulders and sharp blue eyes staring out at Leah from beneath a warp of wrinkles that surrounded them, a shock of silver hair standing to stark contrast atop the woman head.

"Hello," Leah greeted, nodding her head respectfully to the old woman and glancing repeatedly at the others, all of them staring at her as if she inspecting a new necklace one might buy, scrutinizing her appearance openly. That was fine, she supposed, even if it did make her want to squirm. It was natural to be weary of someone who had just come in with no prior connections. Or at least Leah thought so, surface dwellers were still fairly odd for the small Atlantean.

"Hello," the woman returned, inspecting her with the same audit as the other tenants, "I am Margaret Rodgers, and as you've only just moved in here, and we would like to ask you some questions." There was no question and when the woman stepped forwards the Atlantean moved backwards unconsciously, allowing the strangers to crowd into her living room. They observed her apartment the same way they observed her, dissecting every detail with their eyes.

Leah was starting to feel sick.

"Of course," she murmured, doing her best to keep from rubbing her arms or fiddling with her earrings and giving away her nervousness. She would answer their questions, provided they weren't too personal.

"Miss Lemaris, you have only just arrived in this city, what is it you're here looking for? Romance, money, renown?" Margaret Rodgers asked, taking a seat on the futon and looking up at the younger woman expectantly.

"I'm here for a job and to be closer to my mother." The brunette admitted, finger twitching and stomach twisting at the unexpected and wholly unwelcome attention to her person.

"Your mother, is she ill?" Margaret continued, brushing a loose strand of silver back into the tightly bobbed bun behind her skull.

"no, but it was decided that, since we don't see each other often, I should move here and see her on a more frequent basis," Leah steadied her breath, keeping eye contact and trying to give the illusion to being calm.

"How nice," commented one of the others, a slightly younger Asian woman, perhaps thirty, in business clothes and short cropped black hair?

"Yes," agreed one of the men, smiling at her tightly and adjusting the long sleeves of his long sleeved button up top, dim light of the window bouncing of his hairless head, "not many would make the effort."

"Yes, very kind of you Miss. Lemaris," Margaret offered, her impeccable posture holding firm even as she stood and started for the door, others fallowing after, "one more question though," she added, turning to look at her from the door frame.

Leah frowned at the actions, finding it to be a bit dramatic, as if an intentional attempt at frightening her. She was sure there were villains who used the same technique; she knew it as a fact. But even it was odd she nodded, waiting patiently for the question.

"You are human, aren't you, Miss Lemaris?" the old woman asked, and something in her mind clicked. The Atlantean wasn't sure if it was amusing or insulting that they were worried she was human. She was a more evolved form of human but she was indeed of that species. But by the definition most people seemed to enjoy throwing around she would be as far away as what it was now obvious these people feared.

"I am," she stated, straitening up and nodding briskly. They watched her a moment longer before Margaret nodded and turned, bidding a clipped goodbye and exiting into the hall, quickly followed by the other three members of the 'welcoming party'. Leah shut the door behind them, lips pressed into a firm line of annoyance.

**Still working on exactly when this is based, either in the first or second movie, what do you guys think? Also this takes place during invasion just FYI.**

**Ka'Liyah means 'kind hearted', Leah is the younger sister of Lori, that mermaid girl from 'downtown' that cast the translation spell that let us all speak Atlantean. **


End file.
